Virginia Rain
by aBlue Gillespian
Summary: "Behold!" The voice was melodic, but the opening greeting was such a cliché the Doctor thought, 'the villains really need to get more creative.' Add a sparky redhead, a voodoo priestest and unstoppable rain. Can the Doctor save the day? 9th Doctor/Donna


**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, Catherine Tate or Christopher Eccleston (although I wouldn't mind owning him:P), or anything else that you might recognise in this story. However the Nesteer are purely my creation.**

**A/N: **This is a story that I wrote for a challenge in the TARDIS forum on FFN site. The challenge was to take a random pairing and use the following prompts.

Fire and ice

"You are one scary little girl, so if you put your mind to it, I'm sure there's nothing you can't do."

"It's like a fairy tale, only minus the dragons!"

Storms

"I have to kill a goat? I don't know if I can do that morally."

The 9th Doctor's timeline is before Rose, sorry but I don't like writing Rose. Donna is more than 10 years before she met the 10th Doctor on her wedding day. I took this challenge because I think there aren't enough fictions with the 9th Doctor here. Granted they could never be enough for me because number nine is my favourite Doctor, and Donna is my favourite companion. It's pity that we would never see them in an episode together.

**Virginia Rain**

There is nothing like the rain storms in Virginia, anyone who experienced one would remember it for life. There is something mystical about them, something that just hangs in the air and causes some people to do unusual things. The Virginia rain storm has a life of its own. The force of the rain is as if the Heavens are opening. The smell of the rain is everywhere. The rain soaks through the doors and the walls of the houses, it soaks right through to bones; it fills your eyes and your mouth. For the short time that it lasts, the Virginia rain storm is all that you can smell, taste, and hear. Everyone tries to find a shelter from the rain, barricading themselves away from the storm, no one in their right mind stays outside.

During one such storm, in a small Virginia town, one redheaded girl was sitting in the window of a hotel room watching the thick sheet of rain with frown.

Donna Noble came to Virginia on a special trip for her twentieth birthday; it was a present from her grandfather. But as it looked, the rain was going to ruin her special day and keep her inside this hotel room. It was supposed to rain just for a few hours, but it had rained for a whole two days now, and it did not show any indications of stopping any time soon. There was not a single soul outside… Except one strange man propped against even stranger blue police box, the guy was dressed in a leather jacket and all in black. The man looked odd enough, standing outside seemingly unaffected by the rain. But the blue box was completely out of place with its retro design and the blue colour, which was seemingly the only hue left in the dulled grey storm shades.

She thought him mad, but at the same time this strange man intrigued her. She made a decision to follow her curiosity without leaving herself too much time to think. She knew, she would regret it later but the excitement to go out there, where no one else dare stay, was too tempting to ignore. Beside she never was one to think too much before saying or acting on something, one of the main reasons her mother would scoff at her.

She was down just in a time to see him turn around a corner, happy that she did not lose time to get herself shoes; she followed him from a distance. Yes, the Virginia rain made you make irrational choices, but it was warm rain so the lack of shoes was not a big issue for her, except for her sanity in the eyes of others. Gratefully there were not many people around apart from the man in the leather jacket, who was leading her out of the suburbs and into the darker parts around the town's lake. She had heard the stories about the old African descendants practicing Voodoo magic in these parts of Virginia, but they had always been just a nice, curious story for a campfire. Now, in the strange storm, they seemed as real as they could ever be, though what this man had to do with them was anyones' guess.

The rain was playing on her imagination and nerves so that every little sound made her jump. All the shadows seemed deeper and creepier; cracking twigs to her right made her jump and bump into the leather clad man.

"So, why did you follow me? Just the stupid curiosity of an evolving ape, or do you 'ave a more sinister reason?" the man asked standing in front of her. He had his legs slightly apart and arms folded in front of him showing no intention of backing down. His blue eyes were icy, but deep and burrowing right into her soul, only his face remained unreadable.

"Oh, you know, just thought that a stroll in the rain to get a bit wet will help me with the boredom." She tried to sound nonchalantly sarcastic, but after a moments consideration of the man's words she screwed her face and almost shouted into his face, not bothered by his stern look or icy eyes at all.

"An evolving ape?" she asked, marking her words with hand gestures. "An evolving APE?" she took one step towards him with every word. "AN EVOLVING APE?" the last was shouted right at his face, accompanied by a finger poking him in the chest. The man looked appalled, and quite shocked by her reaction.

"Well done!" He praised sarcastically with a frown. "That was quick; you caught up with what I said almost before we started a new conversation."

"You called me stupid evolving ape!" Donna accused shaking her head in disbelieve.

"Kind of yeah," he tossed over his shoulder, no longer paying her much attention. He was already moving around searching for something.

"Oi! Listen to me when I'm talking, clever boy!" Donna shouted in frustration. She really hated being ignored, so her solution was to be really noisy. Although the U-Boat Captain-alike didn't seem to appreciate her noisy nature much, if his turned back and efforts to ignore her were anything to go on.

She tossed her head for emphasis, but a stray wet hair slapped her eyes and splashed water over her face. She began to wonder what had come over her to come out and follow a stranger in a rain storm. What angered her even more was the fact that the man was seemingly oblivious to the heavy rain; granted he didn't have hair to spray his face with water, but these ears should pick quite the puddles, she thought.

"So, if I'm a stupid evolving ape, what are you then?" Donna asked.

"Not, a stupid evolving ape!" that was all that the man said. "Why don't you go back to your hotel, take a shower and watch some TV?"

"And never to find out who you are?" she replied passionately. "Not a chance, mate!"

"You want to get wet, muddy an' probably ruin your nice holiday clothes? Suit yourself!" He said sounding quite bored by now. "But do you really have to be so noisy?"

"Oi! I'm not noisy, clever boy; your ears are too big," Donna answered, but she felt self-conscious for the first time, noticing the state she was in. Her feet were bare and covered in mud almost right to the ankle, her dress was hanging limply and wet to her body, and her hair was all soaked and plastered to her head.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to listen 'ere!" he cut her off, not even acknowledging that her insult was heard.

"Listening to what?"

"I don't know yet," he answered back sharply with jaw set tight and his face twitching in nerves.

"You don't know?" Donna asked incredulous. "How can you listen for something you don't know about?"

"Well, maybe if you shut up for a moment I'll be about to find it out," the man snapped turning on her sharply. His icy eyes were sharp as knives now and the face was colder. She involuntarily backed away, scared by him. Before he looked angry, a bit like an unfriendly loner but relatively harmless, now though he just looked scary.

"Who are you?" she asked, not daring to raise her voice above a whisper.

"The Doctor," he said off-hand, returning his attention to the noises and shadows across the lake.

"The Doctor?" she asked, once again unable to resist raising her voice a little.

"Yeah…"

"Just that?" she pressed.

"Kind of, yeah," the Doctor answered uninterested.

"What kind of idiot name is that?" Donna asked somewhere between annoyed and amused. "Does your Mum hate you?

"How is that relevant?" the Doctor didn't even look at her when he spoke.

"I mean…The Doctor? She must hate you to give you that name."

"She didn't hate me, and she didn't give me that name. Now would you just shut up a moment?" He grunted angrily.

"So, then that's not your name? See, I knew it!" she commented triumphant. "So, what is your name?"

"I said shut up!" The Doctor snapped at her.

Donna opened her mouth to try and bite back again, but a hand clasped over her lips and cut off her words before they left them. She tried to protest through muffled cries but a strange smell, which assaulted her senses, made her quite drowsy and in no time she was out cold.

Unable to hear anything useful from this distance, the Doctor decided to try and risk sneaking around closer to the camp of Voodoo practitioners.

"So, you finally stopped yer annoying banter. Did you catch something in your mouth, or…" he turned around to address the strange redheaded woman, but was promptly cut off by her absence. "Oh, fantastic!" he grumped. "What is it with female humans, and disappearing?"

He was torn between going to check into the camp and looking for Donna, however if he had to judge by his experience with kidnapped companions, Donna was most likely to be found in the camp anyway. So, having no other leads for the redhead, he started to carefully make his way towards the other side of the lake.

The Doctor crept quietly, staying into the shadows of the trees around the camp. He silently thanked the rain for helping muffle his steps. He was sure that whatever the problem was it has something to do with this non-stop rain. It was unnatural to rain for so long, not that kind of storm anyway. The big question was, what someone would want to do with a rain storm and why? This lapse of concentration, while considering possible explanations almost cost him to lose his cover. Something pricked the back of his mind warning him about the danger. He stopped in time, just before he collided with the back of one of the women who was standing aside and observing the dancers.

The Doctor slipped slowly back holding his breath, not daring to even breathe in case he made a sound. He silently sent thanks to whichever deity happened to be passing for the fact that the Time Lords have a respiratory bypass. Relatively safely settled under the cover of the forest and the sheet of heavy rain, he looked around. There in the middle of the camp was a big bonfire and about a dozen dark skinned women and men dancing around it and singing in ancient languages. The fire looked magical; it stayed burning even in the rain. But the Doctor did not believe in magic, he thought there was probably some force field over it. Amongst all the dark skins it was easy to spot Donna's fiery hair and milky pale skin. She was settled, almost comfortably, on the ground near an alcove which contained a tied white goat munching on strands of grass. It seemed oblivious to the rain that poured from the sky and was soaking everything.

"So, is that a part of the holiday attraction? Give the tourist a taste from regional culture, show them the sights?" Donna's voice came to him carrying over all the noise. It was amazing really how loud she could be when she wanted. "So, are you going to get me to try some of the regional cuisine too? Only, I'm not sure I want to taste any of it, who knows what there could be in it. " She kept on prattling even though no one gave any indication that they had even registered her talking.

Donnas' head still felt fuzzy with whatever chemical they had made her inhale. There was this annoying sweetly-bitter taste on the tip of her tongue. The rain wasn't helping to improve her mood either; she was still wet and now as the sun has set, quite a bit chilly too, dressed only in her thin soaked summer dress. She believed that if she felt moody then the people around her should feel her anger- or rather hear it as her best defence mechanism kicked in.

"Oi, you, I'm talking to you lot!" she got up from where she had been slumped and approached one of the bystanders. Jabbing a finger at the woman she said. "You should have kept me tied up at least; it's not even a proper kidnapping."

The tribes' woman, however ignored her, and continued to chant holding a rag doll over the fire. After a brief time of watching and listening to the woman, Donna started to feel strangely woozy, and the ground under her feet seemed to move. Suppressing a shudder, she took a breath and stilled herself. The figures around her shimmered and in a strange fast forward motion the goat started to shake and shifted its shape to a mystical, almost translucent woman, dressed all in white. The woman's feet did not touch the grass and the rain seemed to fall all around her but did not touch a part of her body.

"Isn't that, Wizard!" Donna shouted in fright, jumping back to try and find a way out of her predicament. Only to find herself into the arms of one of the tribe men who held her firm and put a finger on her lips.

"Shhh…silly woman," he spoke with deep African accent. "You have to praise the spirit and keep a respectful silence until you are allowed to speak."

Donna tried to push away from him and let this 'spirit' know what she thought about speaking only when allowed, when she felt a cloth gagging her while her hands and legs were tied to the same alcove she was leaning against earlier. She struggled and murmured unintelligible things trying to wriggle herself free, however without success. She looked with wide eyes as the 'spirit' descended and its feet touched the ground.

"Behold!" The voice was melodic, but the opening greeting was such a cliché the Doctor thought, the villains really need to get more creative.

"It is almost time my faithful followers!" the woman continued. "We can't keep maintaining the rain for too long and my children are ready to grace you with our blessed existence. You have been following my lead faithfully, it is a time I gave you the promised power."

The Doctor rolled his eyes (another megalomaniac with a big plans), and crept towards Donna. He did not dare turn on the sonic screwdriver in case the sound drew the tribes' attention. He clawed through the mud for what felt like hours before he reached his destination. Very quietly and slowly he lifted himself up behind the redhead and leaned to whisper in her ear, startling her and making the short tempered woman squirm suddenly. He was grateful that she was gagged; he entertained the thought of leaving her this way, but dismissed it quickly, deciding that it probably was better for his later existence if he remove the gag now. He started by untying her hands as he whispered in her ear, "Don't worry is me, the Doctor. Sorry for the delay, but it was too nice having you quiet to ruin the peace." She swung her leg back, trying to kick his ankle, but he moved fast managing to avoid it. A loose twig snapped under his foot as it caught on a particularly slippery place of mud.

He managed to balance precariously and steady himself, but the damage was already done, they would be really lucky if they were not spotted right now. They needed to be a lot more careful. Some of the dancers stopped to look around for the noise but saw nothing as Donna kept pretending to struggle and throw silent insults their way. Only the 'spirit' narrowed her almost colourless eyes, but if she saw something, she gave no indication of it. The two adventurers held their breath. Their hearts were pounding a mad staccato inside their chests for what seemed like hours, but probably was just mere seconds. Even for a Time Lord time seems to lose its normal flown when you are waiting for all hell to break loose upon your head. Finally the assembled tribe resumed their activities, and still no one paid much attention to Donna. The Doctor moved as quickly as stealth would allow and freed the vicious redheaded girl from her restraints. She pulled her arms free not too gently and flinched; flexing her wrists to allow the blood that was cut off from the ropes to start flowing normally again. When she turned to face the Doctor her face was red and her expression furious.

"What the bloody hell is this?" she shouted making frantic gestures with her hands pointing at him. "Are they aliens? Gramps was right; there are aliens who want to take over our planet."

The Doctor was making gestures to try to get her to shut up, but she wasn't having any of it. Donna was on a roll and she was going to finish.

"Why aren't they green? Where are the green men? I have watched 'Mars Attacks', you know! Oh, my God, they are Martians, aren't they? Are they Martians?"

"Donna…" the Doctor managed to put in anxiously between her rapid fire speech but it was no use.

"Are they Martians? They can't be, can they?" she thought, pulling really surprised face. "Nooooo, that's wizard!"

"Donna…."

"What?" she snapped at the leather clad man.

"You just doomed us. Couldn't you keep quiet until we have actually escaped?" he replied angrily.

"Oh…" Donna breathed heavily, and turned around to look behind her.

The tribe had dropped all other activities now and were looking at them, dumb founded by Donna's brash tirade. However, it did not take them long to recover and start closing in on them. The Doctor stepped in front of her and held a hand up to halt them. He addressed the 'spirit' with a stony expression; his penetrating icy blue glare set right into the mystic figures colourless ones.

"Stop!" he tried to sound commanding and was glad for his rougher look and northern accent this time around. "Before you carry on with your evil plan- nothing original really by the way, can you at least tell me who are you?"

The 'spirit' stepped closer to the couple and stretched out her hand.

"I'm the spirit of the dark African magic, the protector of my Voodoo children." Her voice was rich and melodic almost lolling the mind into a haze.

"Now see there's the problem, if I was one of these little silly apes 'ere, I would 'ave believed you. Only I'm not." the Doctor frowned and folded his arms in front of him. "So, drop all the 'I'm your Voodoo shaman' stuff, and tell me your species." He demanded.

Donna poked his upper arm, "What do you mean not one of these silly apes? Oh, my God! You are not one of them, are you? Nooo…" she backed away slightly. "You are a Martian!" She concluded.

"I'm not a Martian!" the Doctor protested. "This is irrelevant, so shut it. I 'ave planet to save."

"But…" Donna started to protest.

"I said shut it!" the Time Lord snapped at her, and turned his attention back towards the 'spirit'. "So, what do you want with this place?"

"You have higher intelligence indeed," the 'spirit' said, and the Doctor could sense an alien presence trying to roam though his mind. He fought it back and managed to push the entity out of his head. "Such a strong mind," the 'spirit' recoiled. "Who are you?"

"The Doctor," he answered simply, "but, I do believe I asked you first."

The alien recoiled even further frightened by the Doctor's stare. "You can't…it can't…You can't be the Doctor!" the entity stated. "The Doctor doesn't exist, he is just a myth."

"Yeah…really?" the Time Lord faked surprise. "I should 'ave checked before I dared to be so bold to exist," he strode towards the woman. "Sorry, address you complains to the Shadow Proclamation. Good luck with that!" He drew to a stop and fixed the 'spirit' with a stern glare. "Who are you?"

"We are the Nesteer. Our planet was destroyed in the War of Time; we were one of the first to fall. Our culture was built on the belief that if we do no harm, the war would leave us in peace, oh how wrong we were." the Nesteer's voice was a combination of more than one entity; it was filled with pain and sorrow. "Now we need a new planet, and we are determined to never make the same mistake. Being benevolent serves no purpose."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this!" the Doctor said.

Donna wondered if she imagined it, but she heard a note of pain in his voice. She could not see his eyes, but she was sure that the pain and loss flashed there too. Donna stepped tentatively forward and lightly brushed his shoulder in comfort.

"But what is it with the rain though?" Donna asked looking and sounding much bolder than moments ago. "'Coz it ruined my holiday, and that's enough for me to help big ears here stop you."

The Doctor shot her an amused look, but she could detect a flash of pride in it.

The Nesteer straightened her posture and faced the Time Lord. "Enough of this! The Doctor or not, we have no time for this. The rain will stop soon, we are telepathic, but we need the water to transfer our toxin and imprint it onto the humans. My children…" she turned towards the tribe, "it is time to put to use what I taught you!"

The women in the tribe started to chant; the men lifted a hen and decapitated it over a rag doll, the blood spilled over the Voodoo poppet. Donna felt bile rise up through her stomach, and into her throat. "I think I'm going to be sick," she gulped, but soon she forgot about her discomfort when she saw the Doctor's face screwed in pain as blood started flowing freely from his nostrils and lips.

"What have you done to him?" she strode forward shouting. "Stop it right now! I'm telling you woman!" She crossed the distance between herself and the Nesteer in grim determination. "Don't you dare hurt him, or I'll show you magic!"

"Donna…" the Doctor chocked through the blood.

"Don't you Donna me, clever boy!" she cut him off angrily, but then her features softened and she approached him just in time to catch him in mid fall. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Are you ok?"

The Doctor lifted and eyebrow, "Do I look ok?"

"Oi, don't get clever with me alien boy!" she tried to lighten the mood and not show him how worried she was. It would only make him feel worse knowing how serious the situation was. However despite her efforts he collapsed on the ground unconscious.

"Please, help him!" Donna looked pleading towards the tribe people. Her eyes were moist, with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "You are humans, you can't let this alien bitch take over the world, and watch an innocent man die."

No one however give any indication of having heard her, or caring about what she was saying. The entire tribe was walking around the place chanting and doing their choirs with a distant and vacant look in their eyes. The phrase; 'The lights are on, but no one is at home' came to mind for Donna.

"Lock them in the hut let's give them as a grateful sacrifice to our spirits!" the Nesteer commanded. "Let the flames purify their bodies and join their spirits to the coven."

Donna looked up sharply, startled by the Nesteer's words. "Fire?" she asked anxiously. "What fire? Oi, lady!" she shouted anger once again taking over her fear. "I'm talking to you! What do you mean fire?"

When the consciousness returned to the Doctor, he came back to the feeling of baking heat and the coughing and chocking of the human girl. He jumped to his feet, his vision dimmed for a moment, head feeling lighter than usual. He scanned the area for the woman in question; the air was thick with smoke. Creaking of flames, which were burning through the wood, could be heard.

"Donna?" he asked franticly.

"Doctor…?" the choked voice of Donna came from his left. The Doctor crawled towards her moving only on instinct, keeping low to the ground to avoid the thickest part of the smoke. When he eventually reached her, she was lying low on the ground trying weakly hit the bottom of the door, probably in a vain attempt to break free. "Doctor, I thought …" she choked, "I thought you had died on me."

"Tough as old boots, me." he tried to grin at her, but the lines of worry on his face were visible. For the little time she had known this strange man- not man - alien, she corrected herself- she was now able to start picking up on his hidden emotions and read him well. Donna could see that under the tough and angry shell lay a gentle hurt soul. She could see all this stern posturing and the leather jacket that he was wearing for what they really were, his armour and shield from the world. He might be Martian, she thought, but he was just like any other bloke.

"Doctor, if you are alien, aren't you more advanced than us?" Donna coughed again, but did not give up speaking. "Because I have watched all these movies and the green men always have these gadgets."

"I'm not a green man," the Doctor told her. "Yeah, I have one of these gadgets, but it can't break the door down. Is just a sonic screwdriver 's not a sonic blaster, or cannon."

"But, it is a screwdriver, yeah?" Donna asked, rising an eyebrow.

"Kind of yeah, only sonic."

"But if it's a screwdriver, then can't you use it on screws?" she asked impatiently. For all his claims to be so much superior in thinking, the guy was really slow now. She wished he would wrack his alien brain and hurry up his thinking. Her skin was starting to feel uncomfortably hot and sticky with sweat now and her throat and chest burned, deprived of oxygen.

"Oh, oh…"the Doctor grinned at her. "Donna, you are FANTASTIC!" He impulsively grabbed her and kissed the top of her head.

"Oi, big ears, don't get too carried away!" she warned him smiling.

The Doctor took a deep breath, switching to his respiratory bypass, so he could stand up without inhaling the smoke. He felt around the door with his fingers trying to find the bolts holding the door. The wood creaked, and felt almost unbearably hot under his fingers, he knew he would have blisters later, but the blisters were his least problem right at that moment. All he could feel for a long time was rough, hot wood and the occasional small nail holding the door together, but it was no use trying to take the door down by removing every nail one at a time. The Doctor realised that he was starting to feel anxious. He knew his respiratory bypass would not hold for very much longer, and if he had problems breathing, Donna would fare much worse. The Time Lord increased the speed with which he was searching. He could hear the girls' laboured breathing starting to get more and more erratic. The Doctor hoped that the human would be able to hold just a little bit longer, he knew that he had to do something soon if he wanted to get her out of there alive.

The Doctor's fingers finally made contact with the solid iron of a door handle. However, his happiness was short lived as he felt his hand being burned, he quickly withdrew it. He cursed under his breath, not only because it hurt like hell, but now that he'd removed his hand, he'd lost his place and had to find his way again. 'Fantastic!' the Time Lord thought with a frown. Donna's breathing was becoming harder to hear. There were less inhalations now and more coughs. Ignoring the pain in his hand the Doctor found the door handle again and turned the sonic screwdriver on. The sound of the sonic screwdriver almost covered the noise of a breaking wood, and only Donna's rasped whisper of "Doctor!" saved him from being hit on the head by the burning debris. However another piece broke too quickly for him to react and a very large loose part of the roof fell, hitting him on the side of his head. The Doctor felt something collide with his temple before oblivion claimed him once more.

Donna wanted to shout at the Doctor to mind out, but all she could get out of her burning lungs was a pained whisper. She looked in shock as the roof piece broke and hit the Time Lord. She tried to crawl towards him, but her body refused to cooperate and did not move an inch. She didn't want to die like this, not here in some forgotten forest, in a burning hut, away from everything and everyone she knew. It was supposed to be an enjoyable holiday, to celebrate becoming twenty years old. Twenty years old, just twenty and she was going to die next to a stranger, who wasn't even human, twenty years old and choked to death. 'Not, me mate!' Donna thought and with one last effort from her aching and protesting body, she started to move towards the fallen alien. If they were going to die, Donna though, they could at least take comfort from each other. Her movements were painfully slow, and she realised that she was wasting precious oxygen, but 'To hell with it.' the redhead thought, it's not like five minutes more or less is going to make much difference.

For the second time in less than half an hour the Doctor woke up to the burning heat and the choke of a thick smoke. He should break this habit soon, he thought.

He could smell burning fabric and flesh, there was pain on his ankle. Quickly realising what this means he shook his leg and rubbed the ankle on the ground to suffocate the flames. Talking of suffocating, where was Donna, he wondered. He could no longer hear her laboured breathing, which could mean only two things, she was either already too far gone, or near unconscious. Bracing himself against the pain that he knew would come; he stood up precariously and started his search for the girl.

The rain was pouring now and the Doctor could hear the hissing of fire being extinguished. He wondered if they would be so lucky as to have the fire put out by the rain before the hut started to burn on the inside as well, or collapse on top of them. An ominous creaking noise however, put this hope to an end. He forced himself to hurry despite the pain from his burned ankle. Finally he found Donna lying on the ground. He could not detect breathing at first, but when he checked for pulse it was there. Not too strong but still relatively steady, all he had to do now was drag her towards the exit and break the door down. Easy… Right?

He shook her gently trying to get her to regain consciousness.

"Come on Donna. Don't give up on me now!" the Doctor whispered in her ear. "Wake up! You can do this, I know you can," he did not want to sound too desperate, but the memory of his burning planet was still too raw for the situation to not have an effect on him.

She coughed weakly and gave a light flutter of her eyelids; it wasn't much but enough to give him new hope and make him smile.

"Yes, girl, that's it! Just stay with me!" he told her sounding hopeful. "I know you can. You are one scary little girl, so I'm sure that if you put yer mind to it, there's nothin' you can't do!" he encouraged her, hoping that she could hear him.

He took his own advice and put his mind to the goal of getting her out of there alive, even if it costs him his ninth regeneration.

The Doctor dragged the dead weight of Donna's body across the hot and dusty floor. A searing pain shot through his ankle, but he greeted his teeth and ignored it. Finally the fates were on his side and the door was conveniently weakened by the flames. It was almost all burned through and hanging limply on, so it needed only a little weak shove to go completely down. He was grateful; because he did not think he had enough strength left in his oxygen starved, concussed, weakened and burned body to break the door down had it been a bit firmer.

Pulling her out the Doctor took a little time to catch his breath and push the pain down, before he turned to Donna. He saw that she had lapsed into unconsciousness again, but this time he could not detect any breathing at all. "Oh, no, you don't!" He exclaimed. "Not, after all I 'ave done to get you out!" The Doctor lifted himself from the ground with a grunt and started to perform CPR. He knew it could cost him his own precious oxygen, but he had to save the girl who had accidentally become a part of all this mess. Thankfully, not long after he started, she give a cough, weak at first, but then she gradually started to take bigger and more regular gulps of air.

Relieved the Doctor lay down next to her, sprawled on the ground, completely exhausted and unable to regulate his own breathing. His throat and lungs were burning and he felt that if he started to talk he would be able to only make some choked and croaking noises.

Donna heaved one last ragged gasp before it become almost back to normal regular breaths. She turned to him, a small smile marring her lips. "Are you ok alien boy?" She asked gently. When he nodded in confirmation but did not attempt to speak, a frown replaced the smile. However, she decided to play it lighter, he didn't strike her as a man- alien… whatever- who would admit he felt weak, so she smiled again and teased.

"Did you just wake me up with a kiss?" she raised an eyebrow. "You know all this… magic, damsel in distress and you waking me up this way… It's like a fairy tale, only minus the dragons."

The Time Lord threw her bemused look, but then grinned at her. "So, am I your prince charming then?" He asked full of humour, this girl was really good at improving his mood at times.

"What, with these big ears? Hardly charming…" Donna smiled shoving him playfully in the shoulder.

"Oi!" he faked hurt, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement and a goofy grin, was softening his usually hard features. "I'll 'ave you know, that on some planets my ears are considered one of the sexier features in a man."

Donna laughed weakly, "Did I say anything about sexy?" she looked at him. "I said you are far from charming, but you are sexy." She closed her mouth, surprised at what she just let slip out and blushed bright red. Bloody Virginia rain was making her act so irrationally, next thing she was going to kiss him. She shook her head horrified at her thoughts and decided to quickly switch tracks before he caught up on what had just been said.

"So…" she said. "Voodoo magic and goats turning into women? What the hell is going on here?" by the end of her questions she was almost back to her normal bossy self. 'Good!' She thought that's how she was going to survive through this insanity.

"This has nothing to do with Voodoo magic. They are highly telepathic species from a planet that was destroyed in a great Time War," he lifted himself from the ground tentatively trying his ankle hesitantly to see if it was going to hold his weight, it did, if a bit unsteadily. "They are keeping the rain because they need a kind of toxin to be able to connect an' affect the brains of other creatures," he explained walking. He winced with every tentative step he took.

"Oh, God, Doctor you are hurt!" Donna came next to him and grabbed his hand to stop him, "Let, me see!" she said.

The Doctor tried to shrug it off and appear fine, but the redhead wouldn't have it. He told her about the burned patch of skin and before she could start to fuss even more he launched into more explanation.

"Do you remember the blood that almost choked me?" he asked, and regretted it almost immediately seeing her wince. "That's how strongly they affect the brain; even my mind could not blank the effects. The toxin weakens your brain waves and they can imprint what they want into your mind and make you believe. You lot 'ere believe in magic, so that's what they use." He limped ahead of her scanning the surroundings for any danger or something to indicate where the creature had gone to.

"That's just…wizard!" Donna harrumphed, "Still doesn't explain how a goat becomes this heartless bitch, thought?"

"Oh, that's simple," the Doctor turned around to look at her and smiled. "The Nesteer are also shape shifters. Because in most of your religions the goat is a figure connected to dark magic, the Nesteer appeared to them as a goat at first. What you saw later is the adult Nesteer original form. The juvenile Nesteers however don't 'ave solid body; they are the toxin in the rain. They need hosts until they reach adulthood and are able to survive outside the host's body."

"So, that is why they came here and are trying to make all these people believe in Voodoo magic?" Donna asked.

"Kind of, yeah!" he answered not really paying much attention to her anymore. "I think they 'ave gone pretty far by now. Can't find anything to lead us to them an' this bloody rain is ruinin' all the leads they may 'ave left." The Doctor said furrowing his brow angrily.

"But, Doctor…" Donna caught his upper arm. "The rain has slowed to a drizzle…"

"Is now the time to talk about weather Donna?" the Doctor cut her off.

"But, Doctor…" she appeared unworried by his behaviour and kept the hold on his hand. "If they need the rain, why is it slowing? Unless, they are almost done with what they need to do."

The Doctor seemed to think this statement over and after a while his face broke into a huge maniacal grin.

"Oh, Donna you are such a fantastic girl," he praised her and started to jog, for the moment forgetting about his injury, which did not miss the opportunity to remind him about itself only seconds later. The Doctor winced and Donna tightened her grip on his arm to support him.

"You are injured Alien boy," she stated the obvious, but with such a gentle tenderness that he did not feel up to snapping at her this time.

"I'm ok!" he assured her smiling. "Maybe we can go back to my ship and I can try to trace them from there, beside the old girl is going to help me with the ankle."

"You have a space ship parked in Virginia?" the girl asked incredulously.

"Kind of yeah!"

"Ok, then clever boy, surprises me!" Donna said enthusiastically and started pulling him along.

The journey back to the hotel took longer than she thought. She was slowed by the mud that had dried in layers on her feet. However the main reason slowing them was the Doctor's injury. He was hiding it well, but Donna could see the occasional frown when particularly strong wave of pain would shoot through it. By the time they reached the blue box in front of her hotel even the drizzle had almost stopped. He did not give her time even to go back to her room and put some shoes on but pulled her towards the strange retro police box.

"What are we going to do with this blue box?" Donna asked puzzled.

"That's my space ship," the Doctor folded his arms and stood defensively by the TARDIS.

"That's…your…ship?" Donna asked pointing with her fingers and stressing every word.

"Yes!"

"I'm not going in there with you sunshine. It's too enclosed a space," she answered, her tone not tolerating any argument. The Time Lord smiled and opened the door, holding it open for her and inviting her to enter.

"Just give it a look," he prompted.

Donna looked at him suspiciously, "This is not going to get you anywhere mister. I know all the tricks with 'just look around my place'. Not me mate, thank you very much!" she stated and folded her arms in front of her.

The Doctor sighed, "Not everyone is after your body Donna. Well there are a few body snatcher aliens an' the occasional psychopath that would be after your body, but believe me I'm neither. I'm not even human what makes you think I 'ave the right parts to mate with you?" He asked in a bored tone.

"Oi, I'm human not some animal on National Geographic, I don't mate I make love." Donna protested.

"Well, I'm sure your sexual life is quite interesting and a good topic for gossip in the office while pretending to work, but I prefer to do a real job." He held the door open and looked impatient. "We need to move soon, we 'ave a planet to save so you had better make your decision now. Are you comin' or not?"

The redhead entered the box and her eyes opened wide with shock. The room was spacious and looked almost organic with light brown-coral like columns that reached from floor to ceiling. The whole pattern of the room was organic-coral, all hexagonal and light brown with small light bulbs. In the centre of the room was a big mushroom like console with a green tube.

"NO WAY!" Donna's voice echoed through the enormous room, "There is no way that a small box like this could contain such a space." She ran out and checked the blue box twice, trying to find where it connected to some fancy room. When she found that it didn't she ran back inside. After a moment Donna ran back out to touch the walls and check if anything had changed.

"You finished yet? We 'ave job to do!" the Doctor asked her, his posture unchanged except the additional smug smile playing on his lips.

"Y-yeah, I think I am," she said following him inside. "Oh, that's brilliant!" she exclaimed with her fingers pointing up. "Gramps would love this, he is not gonna believe it!"

"That's good; because you are not gonna say anything to him," the Doctor told her grimly. "No domestics are allowed 'ere."

He let the girl sit quietly to get some well-deserved rest and look around in amazement while he started to work around the controls, trying to detect anything unusual or a ship to lock on to. After a few minutes of companionable silence the Doctor exclaimed, "FANTASTIC!" That made her jump. Then the column in the middle of the room lit up with a pale green-ish light and started to move up and down.

Donna jumped from the captains' seat and joined the Time Lord by the control panel.

"What is it?" she asked impatiently. "Did you find something? Are we in flight?"

"Yes, we are in flight if I try to explain to you what I found an' how it works will you understand?" he asked her with amusement.

"No, I guess not." the girl answered dejectedly.

"Thought so," the Doctor grinned at her and went to the door. Donna followed him, but he put a hand to stop her in her tracks. She frowned and prepared herself for another Donna Noble rant when he beat her to it and started to talk.

"Donna, let me go on my own it might be dangerous out there," he said.

"I'll let you know that I survived going home on my own after a Mellow and West Ham match in full West Ham football attire. I don't think there could be anything more dangerous."

The Doctor smiled at this brave human girl, "You are comin' out with me then?" He asked her.

She looked a bit nervous, "So, are we on another planet?" she asked suddenly enthusiastic, quickly getting over the shock. "What is it out there? Can we breathe…we can…can't we?" She kept on talking and asking, not leaving him any time to even answer her.

"Well…" the Doctor breathed out, "go out and see." He said smiling.

Donna ran out the door hastily, completely forgetting the state she was in. She stopped dead in the doorway. After a moment she turned sharply towards the Time Lord.

"A desert? You took me to a bloody desert? "She tossed her hair irritably. "First it was pouring rain and I got all soaked up and muddy. Now it's a bloody desert. Oh, well I can dry myself quicker I suppose. "

"This is where the signal took us. We are not on a holiday here. Remember?" the Doctor snapped at her. "We 'ave planet to save and villain to stop."

She calmed visibly by hearing his arguments and stepped out of the TARDIS onto the hot sand. Squealing she jumped back and rounded on the alien.

"Do you have any shoes?" she asked annoyed.

After a long run around the TARDIS and a few wrong turns, Donna made her way out by the Time Lords side into the baking heat of the desert sun.

"So…" she was back to her bouncy enthusiasm. "What planet are we on?" She asked stamping her feet and jumping up and down. "Oh, My, GOD!" she shouted making gestures with her hands for emphasis. "I'm on a different planet! I'm actually walking on an alien soil!" She stopped abruptly and looked at his face, which was expressionless once again. After a long while the Time Lord broke into a grin.

"What?" she asked impatiently. "What is it?" Donna snapped after he didn't make any attempt to answer her. The girl started to look around and turn left and right. "What is it? Do I have something on my dress? No, is in my hair, isn't it? Do I have something in my hair?"

"Actually…" the Doctor began stepping a little back seeing the expression on her face, "we are in Africa," he crossed his arms and looked her square in the eyes, amused.

"What?" Donna's voice sounded incredulous. "As in Earth, Africa?" she cocked her head.

"Kind of yeah," he answered, and stared down the first sand dune. "Are you comin'?" he tossed over his shoulder to the redheaded human.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Donna sighed with disappointment. "Well at least it's not the US I suppose. Still I've travelled to somewhere I have never been before," she smiled at him. "So, then alien boy, where are we going?"

"We are followin' the path my scanner is showing us," the Doctor said looking up at the sky. "I think there's a storm comin' up, and is not the wet season 'ere. There shouldn't be any rain for at least another month or so. "

"Well, maybe we'll be lucky, because we didn't bring any water with us," Donna supposed.

"No, I'm afraid, we are not lucky. If it starts to rain we will be exposed to the toxin again," the Doctor answered looking attentively in the scanner.

They walked in silence for a long while, hoping that soon they would find their destination, because the sun was rising higher and it was past midday. However so far they saw nothing but sand and the red stormy sky. The storm was rapidly approaching not leaving them much time before the rain would start to fall and the Nesteer gain control over the weaker minds in this region. Donna was feeling uncomfortably hot by that point, despite wearing only the wet summer dress. At least it was wet maybe a couple of hours ago. Now she wished they hadn't forgotten to take some water with them. Her already dry and achy throat was now even more so with the additional threat of thirst. She felt sticky with sweat and thought that should there be a large animal it would be able to smell her from the other side of the desert. The alien however seemed unaffected by the heat as much as he was unaffected by the rain, he did not slow down in his pursuit or removed any layers of his clothes. She could not imagine how someone could not feel the desert heat wearing that leather coat and black jeans.

"How long do we have to walk?" Donna asked, her voice sounded dry and raspy, as if it had not have been used for years. She might not have, the girl thought, she had lost any sense of time or direction now. All she felt was, sweat, heat and thirst.

"Not too long, I hope," the Doctor answered. He wasn't as affected as her, but the sun and the lack of water were taking their toll on his already injured body too. Granted he was a Time Lord and the elements did not have the same effect on his body but it still affected him.

"You, hope?" Donna asked bitterly. She could feel an ache starting to form in her woozy head. Her vision was swimming in front of her. Now she wished the storm would hurry up and start, she would deal with the effects of it later.

They stumbled, and slid along the seemingly endless dunes of sand until they finally reached the source of the signal. It was a small oval egg like white space shuttle, probably private by the looks of it, no more than a 4 or 5 seater at the most. At first they both thought they had experienced a mirage cause by the heat and the lack of water, but then a small door opened into the smooth surface of the egg like ship, and a couple of creatures like the Nesteer walked out. The only difference was that their bodies were not even half as solid as the adult Nesteer they saw in Virginia. They were almost completely translucent and flew towards the tribe that was situated in a tent behind the shuttle, the juvenile Nesteer's still needed to establish connection to a solid carbon body. Donna felt bile rise inside of her. She tried not to imagine the persons who will be possessed, their lives and identities stolen; just so a few aliens could nurse and nourish themselves on them.

She looked towards the Doctor just in time to see the adult Nesteer hovering above him.

"We have to survive Doctor, surely you must know this?" the Nesteer tried to lull him gently reaching her hand towards him. "Don't you ever wish that the Time Lords were alive? Would you not try to keep the species if you had the chance?"

"I made my choice, an' I stand by it," the Time Lord answered firmly, seemingly unaffected by her words, but his eyes were like large cold chunks of icebergs. "I can help you find an uninhabited planet an' settle there, start your species anew." He offered lifting his chin and taking his usual pose, with his legs slightly apart and his arms folded as a shield in front of him.

The Nesteer smiled, regaling him with bored look. "For someone from a race so wise, you sure are not too bright, Time Lord," she said acidly. "We are good here as it is, beside where would you leave us? On another planet to take over other species, as long as it is not the Earth and the humans would be alright?" She laughed coldly.

"I can help you, if you would let me," the Doctor told her. "But if you are too stubborn I'll have to stop you."

Donna stepped to stand beside her new found friend. "Don't you see what he is offering you, you stupid woman?" She asked the Nesteer, her voice was themed with sorrow and held by tears. "He is offering you survival, and you are going to force him to do something that will hurt him," she took the Doctor's hand and linked their fingers.

"We can't survive without carbon based body while we are growing up," the Nesteer told her.

"But you can't take other person's bodies. They are sentient, and have families," Donna insisted.

The Nesteer smiled, looking almost with apology at Donna and then turned to some of her children. "Lock them up!" she ordered before shifting her shape into a goat and following the rest of the tribe.

"Oh, great," Donna sighed, her voice deep with bitterness.

The two companions tried to fight back and run through the dunes towards the TARDIS but the Nesteer appeared in front of them and tried to invade the Time Lord's mind. When she failed she tried the trick with the already bloodied rag doll.

"You two, you are like the fire and the ice. She has such a fire such a passion, she needs you Doctor to level her down with your cold realism or she will drown in her passion. What of you Time Lord, such an icy cold that is crawling in your soul, you need the fire of this human to make you feel alive again. Such a pity you won't have a chance to be together longer."

However, before the Doctor could start choke on his blood again Donna lunged for the alien and knocked the doll away.

"Oh, no, you are not going to touch him again lady!" she warned. "You are going against the wrong girl," Donna then jumped forward and punched the alien woman. At first it looked as if her fist had gone straight through the semi-translucent body of the Nesteer, however she found some power to surge through her fist and the Nesteer fell down taking Donna with her. Unable to maintain the more powerful, original form any longer, the alien choose to shape shift, taking the easier option- the goat. Feeling the shifting animal under her Donna rolled off with disgust, lifting herself to her feet. When she felt steady enough, she blew the hair from her face and brushed the more stubborn strays of goat hair with her hands.

"That's what you get for threatening my friends and making me angry."

They should have been prepared, expecting what happened next. Later the Doctor would blame himself for his stupidity, but at the moment he was too confident that he was near the end of this strange adventure with this bossy girl. Not paying much attention to their surroundings, the two adventurers were surprised by a mental force that sent them into a blackout.

When later the Doctor came to from yet another state of unconsciousness, the third in a day, he sighed. The way he was going, he would have been knocked out more times in this one body, than he had ever been in his nine lives.

He looked around to get his bearings and eventually come up with a plan for escape. There were smooth metal walls, no windows at all and apart from a lone steel bench that was bolted to the floor, the room was stripped bare. He spotted the unmoving body of Donna lying on the cold polished floor and ran to her. He frowned with concern. She should've woken up by now. His worry was short lived as she frowned, growled in a really unladylike way and rolled around slightly, before opening her eyes.

"Where did we end up this time?" Donna asked, not even doubting for a moment that they were in trouble.

"You know, 'ad a bad drinkin' night and end up in custody," The Doctor answered.

"It sure explains the headache," she complained. "So, how are we getting out of here?"

The Doctor looked at her smiling face and grinned back, "Thought you would never ask."

He took his sonic screwdriver out and started to work on the door lock to open it. The lock however refused to budge or show any indication of opening any time soon. He knew the time was of the essence, the rain was slowing down. That could only means that the children Nesteer were ready to be connected with a human host. He could not let this happen.

Donna tried to keep her impatience in check and not start pacing around the room while waiting for the alien to open the door. She knew a habit like this was annoying, she always complained to her mother when Sylvia did this pacing while waiting for her dad to come back if he was late. She didn't think she would be able to do it for long anyway, because her head was pounding.

She resorted to fingering impatiently on the hem of her now dry, but torn and muddy summer dress. It didn't work too well as a distraction though. The Time Lord seemed to have made no progress in the last 15 min. At last Donna was unable to wait any longer and asked.

"Oi, time boy, what are you doing?"

"Resonating the lock," was the Doctor's short and grumpy reply. "What does it looks like, Earth girl?"

"Don't know, but it doesn't look useful," Donna retorted annoyed.

"You wanna give it a shot?" the Doctor spat angrily. "See if you can do it better."

Donna smiled, happy that she had something to do. She rose from the floor and made her way towards the door.

"Thought you would never ask," she beamed at him and took out her keys. She then inserted the tip of the key into the keyhole and slid her debit card through the gap to push the tongue of the lock.

The Doctor looked baffled for a moment, before his face broke into a huge grin.

"Fantastic!" he praised the girl. "Where did you learn this?" He asked.

"I watched a lot of James Bond movies," Donna answered cheekily. "Beside I have a friend who lives in a council flat in London. The entrance gate to the staircase is always locked and the doorbell almost never works. So, I had to learn to pick up the lock," she finished proudly, straightening up and pushing the door open.

They exited the room, which turned out to be one of the rooms in the Nesteer's ship.

"At least we are still in the desert," the Doctor sighed.

"Yeah, and it's night, cold and I'm dressed in a summer beach dress," Donna complained shivering. Who could believe how cold it could become in a place like this during the after dark. Then she stopped shortly forgetting all about the cold. "Doctor, is it supposed to be pouring outside?" She asked, and turned to face him. His face was screwed up in a deep frown, briefly illuminated by a bright lightening bolt which was shortly followed by loud thunder.

The thunder seems to have shaken the Doctor into action. He jumped slightly and said to her seriously, "We 'ave to stop them!"

Donna rolled her eyes at him and puffed, "Yes, mister obvious, I already guessed that. Now can you be useful and tell me how we find them?"

The Doctor grinned at her, "Oh, that's easy," he tapped his temple with finger. "Mildly telepathic, me"

"So, what, you are going to read this woman's mind and find out where she is?" Donna asked arching an eyebrow.

"No, I'm only goin' to pick up on the strength of her brainwaves and find out where she is. I usually wouldn't be able to do this, but with the toxin in the rain I can pick even your brainwaves. "

Donna turned towards him sharply and raised a hand to slap him, making him back up. "Oi, big ears get out of my head, or I'll slap you from here to Mars."

Five hours later and after non-stop complaining from Donna about the cold, thirst, hunger and being tired, they finally found the camp fire that despite the heavy rain seemed to be roaring completely unaffected. 'Clever girl this Nesteer'. The Doctor thought.

"Force field 'round the fire and all these humans think they see magic," he whispered in Donna's ear.

"Don't you dare say anything about us being primitive, uneducated apes, if you know what is best for your health!" Donna hissed back, cutting him off before he even had the opportunity to start.

"So, what's the plan then?" Donna asked.

"We go there, kill the goat and then go back to our lives," the Doctor said this trying to sound nonchalant, but he really was not looking forward to killing the Nesteer. The alien however, did not leave them any other option.

"I have to kill a goat? I don't know if I can do that morally," Donna protested.

The Doctor looked at her with a surprised smile. "You can't kill a goat, but you were ready to kill _me_ just a few minutes ago?" he asked her.

"Yeah, the goat didn't make me get all wet and muddy, just to get me all hot and thirsty, before it gets me all cold and wet again." Donna tossed back at him.

"But it was the goats' fault in the first place," the Time Lord protested weakly, still remembering the threat of the slap. "If we kill her while she is in her goat shape it could look like a sacrifice, so later UNIT would not 'ave to clear up after us or 'ave to explain to people that Voodoo magic was actually an alien invasion," he explained.

"Ok…" Donna agreed reluctantly, "but how is this going to stop the rest of the Nesteers?"

"Once the adult is dead and unable to control the psychic link to the ship, the rain will stop an' the toxin-children Nesteer will dissolve harmlessly into the air." The Doctor explained feeling the guilt of what had to do. The self-loathing was eating him inside.

"Can't we do it another way. Use your thingy-gummy screwdriver or something?" Donna asked with tear-filled eyes. She felt sick thinking about killing the whole Nesteer family, but she could not leave the Doctor to do it on his own. "Because if there isn't, I'm not happy about doing this, but I'm not letting you doing it alone, it's already killing you." She sobbed. She could see that her words were true by the look in those mesmerizing blue pools.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said.

Donna just nodded as they set about doing their job. However difficult it was, however much it was paining them, they did it together, side by side never for once letting go of each other. In the end no one actually knew who really did the kill, and maybe it was better, because this way they could not hate the other, or blame themselves for the end.

During the whole journey back to the TARDIS, Donna was crying, while the Doctor walked in silence, not speaking to her even a word. In fact it was four hours after they had rematerialized at Donna's house, but she was yet to stop crying. The Doctor was still to utter a single word too. He was just standing there, staring at the console. Finally calming down Donna dried her eyes and straightened her hair.

"Ok, better look where you have parked. I have a lot to explain to my mum and gramps. Why I'm back home so early and without my stuff," she started rambling again. The best Donna Noble defence mechanism, the Doctor thought, but he refrained from telling her that.

Donna opened the doors and stepped just outside, not even bothering to turn around, she raised her arms up as a warning that he was in trouble.

"You parked in my living room?" she shrieked. "You parked in my living room?" she repeated, despite receiving no reaction from the alien in the box. "YOU PARKED YOUR BLOODY BOX IN MY LIVING ROOM!"

"Is not a box Donna, is a ship," the Doctor corrected her offended and immediately regretted it, seeing the glare that the redhead girl was sending his way.

"It still looks like a box to me mate!" Donna said. "What am I supposed to say to mum?" When he did not answer she entered again and shouted at him closing the doors, "Get it out of my living room!"

The dematerializing from Donna's house and rematerializing in a back alley took mere moments, but the trick worked and Donna was back to her normal self.

This time the Doctor came out of the box with her.

"So…" she started, but then trailed off.

"'S goodbye I spouse," the Doctor told her.

"All these things and we just keep on going on with our day to day lives oblivious," Donna marvelled.

"It's for the best," the Doctor told her gently.

"So, you are going back home too then?" Donna asked, instantly regretting it after seeing the look in his eyes. "I'm sorry," she apologised softly. "The Nesteer…" she gulped not sure if she should ask, but she had started already, "she said your home was destroyed?"

"Kind of yeah," the Doctor muttered.

"Do you wanna talk?" she asked concerned.

"No, not really."

"Ok!" she made to turn around and walk away, but when she heard him speak, she stopped and looked at him with a small smile playing on her lips.

"If you weren't such a nosy, bossy an' scary young woman, I could 'ave invited you to come with me," he teased her smiling.

"Maybe if you weren't such a self-confident, annoying, know-it-all git, I would have accepted too," she answered back not missing a beat.

"Good!" he puffed. "But seriously. Do you wanna come with me?" The Doctor surprised himself by asking this.

"No!" she refused quietly, but firmly shaking her head.

"Fair enough," the Doctor said, turning to enter the TARDIS.

"No, is not you," she shook her head again. "Is just…is too much for me. It's too big out there, and looks so unreal. I'll lose my touch with reality; I'll stop separating reality from fantasy. I don't want to lose my touch with reality," she begged him to understand. "I just want a normal life. Find a nice job, a husband, two and a half kids."

The Doctor nodded, but then smiled.

"Did I mention that it also travels in time?" he asked hopefully.

"That's not working on me Time Boy," she laughed. "Find someone else, please… you will kill yourself if you keep going on your own. Try this on them, it might work better," she smiled one more time before he nodded in agreement and entered the TARDIS.

He sighed, working around the controls, patting the console.

"Yeah, Old Girl it's only us two again," he talked to his ship, "I feel woozy," he slurred before sitting on the captain's chair. "Is probably the rain, you know. I'm not going to remember a thing about this day when I wake up tomorrow am I?" he asked his ship. "Yeah, you are right I 'ave enough guilt as it is. What Is Donna goin' to think when she wakes up tomorrow at 'ome instead of at the Virginia hotel?"

A few days later the Doctor entered his ship alone yet again after yet another rejection. Rose had told him 'No', when he asked her, this had strangely hurt, but he never asked twice.

"_Did I mention that it also travels in time?_"

The Doctor stopped suddenly. When had he said these words?

There was a flash of red in his mind and he heard a female voice saying.

"_That's not working on me Time Boy!_" The Doctor wondered who she was. "_Find someone else…Try this on them it might work better._" He wished he could put a face to the red colour or the voice, but he dismissed it in a moment and jumped to the controls.

Seventeen seconds after the strange blue Police box had disappeared, it reappeared again and the Doctor opened the door smiling at Rose.

"Did I mention that it also travels in time?"

**END**


End file.
